


Freeze and Thaw

by Kaleri



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:26:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5395730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaleri/pseuds/Kaleri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lee wakes up the first time to a terrible tragedy. The next time she wakes up, she pushes forward into a new world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Freeze and Thaw

“ _Cryogenic stasis suspended.”_  The first thing Lee remembered was the light. It shone hard and bright into her pod, and she blinked slowly as her eyes opened for the first time in…  how long had they been down here? She breathed deep and looked out over at Nate, cradling Shaun close to his chest. Lee shook her head, pinched the bridge of her nose. If they were waking up, was it safe?  _Oh god, the bombs_. Her heart jumped as she remembered the cries of the people left outside the vault.

She could hear muffled voices and two figures covered head to toe in white stopped in front of Nate’s pod. 

“This is the one, here.”

Another man in black held a gun tightly in his hand and spoke in a rough, gravelly voice, “Open it.” 

Nate’s pod opened with a hiss and he looked hopefully at the people around his pod, “Are we safe? Is it over?”  

One of the people in white said softly, “Almost. Everything’s going to be fine.” They reached up for Shaun and mumbled, “Come on, come here baby.”

Lee could see Nate catching on, they wanted Shaun. “No… no I’ve got him.” He turned and held Shaun carefully in one arm while pushing with his other. 

The man in black pointed his gun at Nate, “Give us the boy. I’ll only ask once.”

Nate shoved the figure in white and stared at the man, lowering his voice, “I’m not giving you Shaun.”

The bullet hit Nate in the chest, and he fell back as the figure in white caught Shaun gently. Lee slammed her fist against the pod door, “NATE!”

The man in black looked over at her, “God damnit, let’s get the kid out of here.” As Shaun and the figure in white disappeared from her sight, the man in black put his face up to the glass door and winked at her. “At least we’ve still got the back up.”

She snarled at him and pounded on the glass again but he stepped away, holstering his pistol.

“ _Cryogenic sequence reinitialized.”_

“No, no no,” she mumbled. God, she was going to be trapped in here. She pounded on the glass door until the cold light filled her mind again.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Lee woke again with a start, gasping for air and coughing as she inhaled roughly. _Nate._ He was in his pod across from her, as still as they left him.

She threw her arms out in front of her and pushed against the pod door. 

_“Critical failure in Cryogenic Array. Vault residents must vacate immediately.”_

She slammed her fists into the pod door and was caught by surprise as it opened with a pop and a hiss. “Oh god, Nate.” She stumbled out of her pod, falling onto the ground.  _How long have I been down here? I can barely move._  She grunted as she pushed herself off the ground and smacked into Nate’s pod.

She pushed the button to release the door lock on Nate’s pod, “Come on, come on. Please…” The pod door opened to reveal Nate, a bullet hole in his chest. Lee reached over and with shaking hands touched his face gently. Cold to the touch. 

_“Critical failure in Cryogenic Array. Vault residents must vacate immediately.”_  

“Shut UP!” Great, she was yelling at a computer. She sob-laughed and held Nate’s cold hand between her own warm hands. “Oh, Nate…” She slipped his wedding ring off and pocketed it. “I swear I will find who did this.” She kissed his hand gently and pressed the controls to close the pod.

She brushed her hair back with her hands, and walked out into the vault.  _Ok, now what?_  She looked around, and tried to remember which way to go. Alarms were sounding throughout the vault and the computer kept repeating that single phrase on loop. 

She walked through the vault, taking in the ruined posters and scattered debris all around. A heavy layer of dust covered everything and she wondered again how long she’d been frozen. She stopped dead when she heard a new sound, like the scuttling of feet. “Hello?”

The sound stopped and she spoke again, “Is someone there?” The scuttling sound began again and got louder as it moved toward her. She felt uneasy and screeched when a giant cockroach wiggled it’s way around the corner at her. She grabbed a tray off a nearby table and threw it at the roach. It stopped moving under the tray for a moment, but moved toward her again with the tray on its back. 

She stomped down hard on the tray and heard a sickening crunch and squish. Not wanting to double check under the tray, she stomped a few more times for good measure. She nodded to herself and moved forward again, checking empty room after empty room.  _What happened here, where is everyone?_  

She picked up a 10mm pistol from a security desk and pocketed two boxes of bullets. She turned the gun over in her hands, Nate taught her how to shoot ages ago and she silently thanked him. 

Lee turned the corner and saw a skeleton in a vault Tec lab coat. She crept forward and checked its pockets. Nothing. She sighed,  _is this all that’s left?_

She looked at the desk and noticed a working terminal and hissed, “Yes!” She flipped through the Overseer’s files…  _Low supplies,_   _mutiny… Ah!_ Lee clicked on the option to open the evacuation tunnel.  _Bla bla bla, orderly fashion…_  The door slid open with a woosh and she whooped happily.

A half dozen roaches later, she found herself at the vault entrance. More Vault Tec skeletons were around the door, and one of them had a Pip Boy on its arm. “Sorry,” she whispered, “I think I need this more than you.” She gently extricated the Pip Boy from the skeletal limb and clasped it onto her arm. She blew the dust off the screen, and waited for the boot process.

It booted up and ran a full diagnostic on her - healthy, physically anyway. Lee glanced up at the Vault door, “What is it like out there?” Silence answered her, and she plugged the Pip Boy into the panel.

The screen on the Pip Boy flashed: [Vault Door Remote Access - Ready]

She hit the button to open the door and loud clanks and hisses filled the air. 

_Vault door cycling sequence initiated. Please stand back._

“Okay. Recap.” She ticked items off on her fingers as she waited for the door to open. “Someone took Shaun. Then shot and k…killed Nate.” Lee gulped back the lump in her throat. “Everyone in this vault is dead. I have no idea what’s outside.” The vault door rolled open and she walked onto the elevator. “I have no idea what’s out there.”

She took a deep breath and slammed the elevator button, and it lurched upwards underneath her.

_I have no idea what’s out there._

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't decided if I'll expand on Lee or not - I want to! But it'll likely be a collection of one shots rather than a full fic. TY for reading!


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